I’m the first to admit that my kids, like most kids, do like to spend time on screens, whether it’s a tablet, a computer or a TV.
When we got the opportunity to try a free coding lesson with Cypher, it seemed a good opportunity to make the screen time more valuable than just playing games and watching movies.
I signed my 7 year old daughter up for a free 60-minute online class with Cypher. Cypher teaches children how to code, through weekly teacher led, online lessons with small groups of children of similar ages and experience levels. Cypher are experts in teaching coding principles, getting kids involved and developing core coding skills over time.
Although my daughter was nervous before it started, she absolutely loved it. Andrea, the teacher, was from Michigan which led to lots of interest and excitement (we had to get the world map out after!). I can see why children love their creative themes, such as animals, magic and art. The teacher was brilliant – kind, interested and enthusiastic making it really fun.
They started the lesson with introductions and working out how much coding they’d all done before. For Eliza’s age, it is a lesson on Scratch. She has done a little bit before, giving her confidence to really build on her skills. The teacher gave her a few pointers and then we were away – Mummy on hand to help with a bit of screen sharing and where the dragging was a bit tricky! The teacher was brilliant, encouraging and kind all the way and took the screen over at one point when it got a bit tricky. By the end, Eliza had built a fantastic dance party complete with a unicorn, pony and a fairy!! We’ve had another go since too so it has certainly sparked interest.
There are lessons for older children
where they are taught how to type code in Javascript! Wow, these children really are the future. These kids are comfortable on Zoom since all the lockdowns, making this a great way to learn a skill for the future.
Cypher offer these free coding lessons for all children and they have different content for younger kids – who will learn using Scratch – and older kids who code with Javascript. If they enjoy their first free lesson, they can go on to have weekly online coding lessons with a group of children of similar age and experience. For younger children the weekly classes have different themes – sports, animation, music to name a few. They build a new project every couple of weeks and I can see that they’d learn a lot over the course of a few months.
According to Cypher, it’s all about getting kids future-ready. Already, 67% of new jobs in STEM are in computing and the importance of technology in industry is only going to increase. Their award-winning curriculum not only teaches them how to code, but also develops broader skills such as creativity, communication and collaboration.
The lesson got a big thumbs up from us and some of our fellow Mumblers too, who had children of different ages enjoy a free lesson.
“…the teacher was fab and it’s literally the longest I’ve seen him sit down and listen! ” – Gateshead Mumbler (Mini Mumbler aged 6)
“…it’s been amazing! X Loved it, I’ve learned loads too!” – Hull Mumbler (Mini Mumbler aged 11)
“My daughter was so happy at the end of the lesson and really proud of what she’d built. Unlike the drag-and-drop coding she’d been used to before with Scratch, she was taught how to type code (in Javascript, I’m reliably informed) and she carried on tweaking it long after the lesson was finished.” – Doncaster Mumbler (Mini Mumbler aged 10)
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